We’ve had a weekend full of technological chaos, with a sudden firing, an attempt to return, and a last-minute signing. That’s why Linda’s situation caught us off guard. The sector is quite stirred up right now.
After IBM, Disney, Apple, and other companies stopped investing in Twitter, top advertising executives made a plea for the removal of Linda Yaccarino.
X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is experiencing a major credibility crisis due to advertisers ceasing spending over Elon Musk’s support for certain international wars and conflicts.
A CEO on thin ice… because of the owner
Forbes has confirmed that Yaccarino has been approached by a wave of significant advertising executives questioning why she’s risking her reputation to shield Musk’s behavior, suggesting that she could make a statement on racism and antisemitism by resigning.
Last week, Musk endorsed an explicitly antisemitic conspiracy theory, and a Media Matters report found that ads from major companies like IBM and Amazon were placed alongside content promoting Nazism and white nationalism, prompting advertisers like Apple, Disney, and IBM to pull ads from the platform.
On November 16th, Yaccarino responded to the storm in a post on X: “X’s standpoint has always been crystal clear that discrimination by anyone must stop across all spheres – I believe that’s something we can and should all agree on. Regarding this platform, X has also been explicit about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world: it’s ugly and wrong. Period.”
The personal outreach to Yaccarino by top advertising executives comes at a time when Twitter is struggling to regain footing under the unpredictability of its owner and to combat content hostile to advertisers that his behavior has fostered.
Beyond the hate content itself, it was Twitter’s failure to deliver on another of its promises that angered the brands that withdrew their ads, according to a source speaking to Forbes.
